Arcidiacono leads No. 7 Villanova past Marquette

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Arcidiacono hit four 3-pointers and matched a season-high with 18 points as seventh-ranked Villanova shook off a slow start to post a 70-52 victory over Marquette at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

Darrun Hilliard scored 12 points and Josh Hart added 11 with six rebounds for the Wildcats (20-2, 7-2 Big East), who have won three straight since a 20- point loss at Georgetown on Jan. 19. They will look to avenge the setback on Saturday.

"I know our guys are excited to play (Georgetown) because they want to see how far they've come since that game," said Villanova coach Jay Wright.

JaJuan Johnson was the lone Golden Eagles player to reach double figures, finishing with 10. Matt Carlino had nine points and as many rebounds for Marquette (10-12, 2-8), which has dropped six games in a row.

Villanova had a sloppy start to the game, committing six turnovers in the first five-plus minutes and missing nine of its first 10 field goals.

Marquette endured its own shooting woes, missing 11 straight shots during which Villanova went on a 10-0 run to grab a 12-6 lead midway through the opening half. Carlino hit consecutive 3-pointers to tie it up, but the Wildcats seized control with a 24-4 burst.

"I would say the biggest thing that I thought was disappointing was that at the start of the game, we had a chance to have a lead and we missed five or six point-blank layups and I thought that really affected our spirit, obviously besides affecting the scoreboard," said Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski.

Villanova led 36-19 at halftime after Carlino knocked down another trey.

Following the break, the Wildcats put together a 14-2 run and took a 50-26 lead on a Dylan Ennis dunk with 12:16 remaining. Marquette got no closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Game Notes

JayVaughn Pinkston and Phil Booth scored 10 points apiece for Villanova ...The Golden Eagles had lost by an average of 4.0 points in their four other conference road games.